Transferwise Speeds Up Their Money Transfer Payments With Debit Card Support

by Greg Anderson 16:29 CEST on 05 March, 2013

Tallinn and London-based Transferwise has added debit card integration, making it easier to speed up the process of sending money abroad at low cost. Previously the process was two steps, where customers had to send money to Transferwise through their own bank, but now customers can add credit card details manually into the website - speeding up the process.

This small feature update will likely reduce friction for users, potentially opening up their userbase. It's a welcome change, but I'm just happy to write about Transferwise all day long because they fit into my ethos. Your average bank will charge €50 just for the opportunity to internationally wire money, on which they also don't seem to give you amazing exchange rates. Every time I had to wire money before Transferwise offered USD support I would hate my life agreeing to these ridiculous charges, especially for what amounts to a simple database transaction for these banks.

Transferwise basically matches up people moving money in both currencies, so there's not the transaction cost of moving money through currencies. As one of the co-founders is Taavet Hinrikus, the first employee of Skype, Transferwise is billing themselves as the Skype of money exchange.

The company is now just over 2 years old, and has moved £50 million (€58 million) between GB pounds, Euros, US Dollar, the Swiss Franc, Polish Zloty, Swedish Krona, Danish Krone and the Norwegian Krone. Today they employ 25 people. Transferwise is regulated by the FSA and HMRC.